Renewed interest in downtown Hamilton - Crafting guidelines

NRU
May 13, 2015
By Edward LaRusic

With renewed interest in tall buildings in downtown Hamilton, the city has decided to create guidelines that put a greater focus on design and location.

“Overall, there is an increasing [developer] interest in the downtown, an increasing number of tall building proposals, and a focus on intensification. At this point, it’s important to review the existing policies to make sure that we have the right tools in place to help evaluate future proposals,” Ward 2 councillor Jason Farr emailed NRU.

With recent applications proposing buildings heights that haven’t been seen since the 1970s, the city is looking to update its 2001 Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan to reflect the increased interest in developing downtown. Part of that update will include the creation of guidelines to help staff evaluate development proposals.

Community planning manager Michelle Sergi said that staff what to ensure “that tall buildings are being sited in appropriate locations, and make sure we understand the context of those buildings… particularly with the increased focus on intensification overall for growth centres.”

Sergi noted that while the current down-town secondary plan addresses shadow and wind impacts, staff wants to go further.

“We’re going to be looking at more of an overall context,” said Sergi. “What’s the impact on the public realm, the impacts on heritage, and views at the local and landscape levels.”

Staff is also reviewing what constitutes appropriate height in the downtown. Currently, the secondary plan allows for buildings up to 15 storeys, but Sergi noted the city has provisions to allow for additional height.

Staff is drawing inspiration from a number of documents, which include the City of Toronto’s Tall Building Design Guidelines and Midtown in Focus, the Parks, Open Space and Streetscape Plan for Toronto’s Yonge-Eglinton area. Sergi said staff is also exploring what the City of St. Catharines has done with street typologies, and the what the City of Montreal has done with its approach to views.

Hamilton has retained planningAlliance to update the Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan and develop the tall building guidelines. These will apply to the majority of the urban growth centre as designated by the provincial growth plan-bounded by Cannon Street to the north, Hunter Street to thesouth, Queen Street to the west and Wellington Street to the east.

Farr noted that the redevelopment of the Royal Connaught at 82 King Street East with 24, 33 and 36-storey towers and 150 Main Street West with a 12-storey tower has led the downtown revival. Other notable developments include the Connolly at 98 James Street South-at 30 storeys-and the Tivoli Condos at 108 James Street North-at 22 storeys-which were both approved this year.

A public workshop on the tall buildings guidelines will be held May 26. Sergi said that staff plans to present draft tall building guidelines to the public this fall, with a report to planning and development council by the end of the year.